Donald Trump: The Most Libertarian President Since Silent Cal

Despite all the Never Trumpers predicting economic turmoil, more deals with “Chuck and Nancy,” and triangulation towards big-government liberalism, President Donald Trump has so far proven to be the most libertarian president since Calvin Coolidge.

On multiple fronts, Trump and his advisors, notably Mick Mulvaney, have managed a record-setting list of accomplishments that leave past self-aggrandizing constitutional conservatives in the dust. On key issues of regulatory reform, rolling back federal power, appointing constitutionalist judges, and rethinking America’s place on the international stage, Trump is setting the gold standard for future libertarian and conservative presidents.

To start with, the Trump administration has been rolling back federal regulations at a faster speed than any other first-year president. …

On the international stage, Trump has moved away from the liberal internationalism of the past, taking the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which many libertarians have argued didn’t actually promote free trade, and the Paris climate treaty, which would have cost the U.S. an estimated $3 trillion. …

The Trump administration is also conducting the Defense Department’s first-ever audit …

Trump is obviously no Ron Paul — he still wants to increase military spending, place tariffs on foreign competitors, and continue the costly wars on drugs and poverty — but then again he never claimed to be. And his record of accomplishment is not only a far cry from the moderated centrism or unproductive gridlock predicted by his naysayers but outstanding as presidential first years go.